Tribune News Service
Patiala, September 6
Bus travellers in the state were at the receiving end following the protest of contractual employees of PEPSU Road Transport Corporation (PRTC), here today.
Around 70 percent of the buses remained off road owing to the indefinite strike by the employees that started on Monday.
Passengers had to wait for hours at the bus stands due to limited number of buses for various routes. Consequently, buses were overloaded, and many passengers were seen sitting on the roofs of the buses. One of the passengers at the Patiala bus stand said, “The government should have made some arrangements for the passengers’ ease. Being a working day, many office going people had to face a lot of inconvenience.”
AAP: Employees’ demands just
- AAP has supported the state-level strike by the contract and outsourced workers of Punbus, PRTC and Punjab Roadways
- Senior party leader and Deputy Leader of Opposition Saravjit Kaur Manuke said demands such as regular jobs, addition of 10,000 new buses and reinstatement of dismissed workers in minor cases were legitimate TNS
Meanwhile, the protesting contractual employees, demanded regularisation along with an increase in the number of buses by 10,000 in the state. They said they had given several ultimatums to the government, however, the government did not pay any heed to their demands. They said they had started an indefinite strike and the government was solely responsible for the harassment of passengers.
Managing director Bhupinderpal Singh said only 30 per cent of the buses plied. He said, “Efforts are on to convince the protesting employees to join their duties. I hope around 50 per cent of the 1,000 PRTC buses would run across the state soon.”
70% buses off road, travellers hit
{$excerpt:n}
